Kommun, Northern Europe (Third update)

[jesper107 113]

Welcome!

First off - this is my first ever journal. Sorry in advance! Secondly - I play games intensely over a period, and then I get other stuff I need to do. In other words, don't expect me to update all the time. But I should be able to manage an update every now and then.

 

So then, onto the journal!

Kommun means "municipality" in swedish. It's a silly name, but you'll get used to it. I'm building this region one piece at the time and have no overlaying plan besides a few things:

• There's gonna be a metric f**kton of trees
• If it's not trees then it's either:
  • Large industrial complexes (harbours, water purification plants, power plants, saw mills, ore industry).
  • One (1) larger town
  • Several small towns/villages
  • Farms
  • Did I say trees? I'll have to contact Dedgren for tips on how to not go mad when planting trees.

So, that's the gist of it. There won't be any fantastic background storys here, but rather a aesthetic journey into rural areas in a setting not completely alien to me. Expect mostly image descriptions.

Let's go on to the pictures of my first update!

 

This is an overview of what I've done so far. To the east you can see rural areas being developed. These will develop like veins following the national roads.

 

Let's start taking a look at what farmers Persson and Jönsson are up to! On this first pic you can see the home of farmer Jönsson.

 

Jönsson just couldn't be bothered with removing the small mound with a conifer on it

 

On the other side of the rapeseed field begins the land of farmer Persson. She's doing pretty much the same stuff that Jönsson does. You can also see a rural bus stop. This stop supports the few households along road 100 (going horizontal on this picture) and also the small village of Ekeby which is just above the frame of this picture.

 

Driving on road 100, things can look something like this.

 

Let's head a few kilometers westward, wave at the driver of bus 100, and check out the central parts as seen in the overview above. Being an avid cyclist, I could just as well pedal my way there using the bike lane. 

 

Approaching those tall chimneys reveal two major industrial plants of Kommun. First, we have the Kinnarpsverket, or Kinnarp nuclear power plant. 

 

These western type reactors use seawater to cool down the magic that goes on inside (I'm a musician and all I know is they slam and/or cleave stuff that is best left unslammed/uncleft). The outlet waters are quite a bit hotter than the surrounding baltic sea and is also the place where the famed Kinnarp herring lives. Too bad the guards won't let the public access the spot.

 

The other site, just across the road, is the Öboverket, or Öbo water treatment plant. I don't know a single thing about treating water, so you'll have to use your imagination here. It has got walls, at least!

 

Here's an overview of the two plants. Road 100 goes vertically through, but the only lit part is another of those rural bus stops serviced by bus 100.

 

All the way to the west in the overview picture is the island of Snibben. A snibb is Swedish slang for edge or point. It's also a very silly name, but I guess it'll be a theme of this journal. On Snibben lies the village of Öbo which is not done yet and hence not shown in this update. I will however show you the south west and south coast of Snibben:

 

The invisible sun (what the hell? Help me with this please.) sets in the Baltic sea and another calm day on Snibben comes to an end.

 

I'll end this showcase with a night picture. On the highest point of Snibben stands its lighthouse. The conservative local politicians insists on it being lit despite seamen laughing at it whilst browsing Facebook, seeing that the ship itself knows where it's going. Far in the background Kinnarpsverket can be seen.

 

Well, then! I hope you enjoyed this first part. Be kind and grant me a few of your comments, would you? The next update will be... when it's done! It will contain [insert whatever I feel for at the time of publishing].

 

Regards,

Jesper

 

 

 

 

[dedgren 830]

So pleased to be able to say "First!", Jesper.  It is so good to see you doing a CJ.  We need an unabashed Scandinavian one, and you've grabbed that slot and run with it.

Don't ask me for advice on restraint in planting trees- I bet I'll be agonizing over using the last few slots around two million a month or two from now.   If you hear about some mad Alaskan chainsawing all the trees in his yard down in the next few weeks you'll know I've finally cracked.

Keeper pic - "Driving on Road 100."  But they're all good.  The light on the water (second to last) shot had me scratching my head just like you.

Best of luck!

 

David

 

[Turjan 1,048]

Wow, those images look gorgeous. I love the North, and I spent most of my vacations there.

It's wonderful how you work with space. I have the tendency to fill it, which isn't always the best choice. Lovely detailing work, too.

[FullStrenght 74]

Beautifull pictures, amazing attention to detail! Keep them coming!

[jesper107 113]

Kommun, Northern Europe - Update 1- the island of Snibben

In this update we will take a look at the inland parts of Snibben.

Let's start by looking at the map made from the fantastic Cimtographer!

 

Just outside of the town of Öbo goes a dirt road without a name. You probably write something like "DR15526-11bXq" on the envelope, should you want to send mail to this forsaken island in the Baltic sea.

 

From the ground it looks like this. Visibilty: none. In the background lies an apple orchard, and is actually the only place where you can find agriculture on Snibben.

 

The island has a few hidden spots with winding trails leading up the rocky hills. These places are mentioned in no tourist guide. You'd have to ask the locals about points of interest, but they'd probably run away since they've never seen a foreigner (read: someone not from Snibben) in their lives. On this picture you can view the path leading up to the lighthouse.

 

This is the same path but during the night. For some reason the path is lit up. Why anyone would venture out in the forest after sundown is beyond me, but is clearly possible with these scenic assistive luminous installations.

 

Here's an overview of the path leading to the lighthouse.

 

No rural island is complete without an old eunuch. This is the spot where he lives. Sometimes the good people of Öbo see him biking into town on quests unknown. They keep a good distance away.

 

Our last secret place for today is the small magical glade, with its centerpiece being a giant Fly amanita. A truly magical and remote location! Did I mention the local football pitch for the children is some 100 meters away?

 

I spend most of my days plopping trees in a stupidly dense fashion, and it's because of this that I pretty much hate this next picture. On Snibben we have a long tradition of hurricane winds on a bi-weekly basis. It's a terrible waste to spend hours plopping trees, just to see them get their buttocks kicked by wind.

 

The national forest agency is hard at work clearing the fallen trees before the next hurricane hits in approximately 3,5 days.

 

If we head back to the lighthouse and walk the stairs (which you get to do during a few select days each year), the view towards the south look something like in the picture below. On the far beaches of the view, the town of Kinnarp will take form sometime down the line.

 

Walking around the lighthouse reveals the town of Öbo, which will probably be the center of focus for our next update. The ever present Kinnarpsverket threatens with possible doom in the distance.

 

Last but not least, I give to you a guide in pronouncing the stupid names of this place:

Snibben = Snih-Ben

Öbo = Uh-booh

Kinnarpsverket = Sheen-harps-where-cut

Öbo reningsverk = Uh-booh Raining-s-work

Ekelunda = Ache-e-loon-dah

Åkesson = Okey-son

Persson (this one is the best) = Person

Kommun = Co-moon

 

That's it for this time. Please learn all the words until we meet again.

Jesper

 

 

 

 

[Horus_Kol 118]

On 29/12/2015 at 1:22 PM, jesper107 said:

 

 

I love whatever you're using for the fields there - which mod?

[Roadman20 601]

There is really one word that comes to mind when I see this: beautiful. 

[dedgren 830]

And in the category "Words That Never Appeared In This Same Order In A CJ Before," first prize goes to...

Quote

No rural island is complete without an old eunuch.

More great pics.  More great story.  Bravo!

 

David

[Turjan 1,048]

I guess I'm out of the loop, as the "eunuch" reference is lost on me, but the pics are, again, amazing. I also like the lighting you use.

That reminds me of many years ago, when I always had those "Northern Light" calendars on the wall.

[jesper107 113]

6 hours ago, Horus_Kol said:

 

I love whatever you're using for the fields there - which mod?

Thanks for the praise!

The flowers are these: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=519356417&searchtext=yellow+flower

The agriculture brush is this one: https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=416082909

2 hours ago, Turjan said:

I guess I'm out of the loop, as the "eunuch" reference is lost on me, but the pics are, again, amazing. I also like the lighting you use.

That reminds me of many years ago, when I always had those "Northern Light" calendars on the wall.

I just made the thing about the eunuch up, so there's probably no loop at all

Thanks for the praise!

[jesper107 113]

Update 2

Islands: Coastlines

I'm terrible at building cities. Funny I would end up playing this game. The island of Snibben is done, and God (that's me) is heading out to new adventures. There are endless acres of woodland to be plopped (and utterly slaughtered by the constant hurricanes), miles upon miles of stones to plop along the coastlines of Kommun, North Europe.

I present to you the final coastline of Snibben!

 

Here's an overview of Snibben:

 

And as a bonus I present to you a (slightly illegal) bike ride along the length of road 100. It's a long ride, but It's varied. And it's also accompanied by my own music. Great!

https://youtu.be/k4F4w9ujL9U

 

Have a great new year everybody! On Snibben they probably won't celebrate, seeing that they probably lost track of time a few hundred years ago.

Jesper

[dedgren 830]

As noted elsewhere, I am not generally a fan of CJ videos.  That said, Jesper, Wow!  What a great ride! It was a good length (relatively brief), it had a concrete purpose- to show the ride- it was interesting, and it moved along.  I have to admit I winced when run over by the first truck that overtook me on the road and when the vegetation intruded into the bikeway.  You should lose the "grass" sprites- there's a mod for that [linkie], but other than that and the need to come to a conclusion other than running full-speed headfirst into a boulder I have no complaints whatsoever only one more gripe.  You only looked both ways at a dangerous road crossing once- you just flew across a couple of others.  My life was passing in front of my eyes...

Great teaser pics of Snibben's coastline.  I bet we'll still see more of it- too good to just move on from all at once.

Great update!

 

David

[Simulanten 681]

Ja men hejsan!

Beautiful - catching that skärgård spirit of the Swedish east coast. I love the detail and the summer flair.

About the vegetation I always wonder what to use for beech and oak and similar. The vanilla trees are looking ok from the sky but from street level they are weird (and in the case of oaks too small) and the shroomblaze trees are way to stingy green and saturated. For the conifers I use the ones from Djelle on the workshop - I like them the most. And what to do about the giant Scandinavian vanilla pine trees? Is there alternative?

Keep it up!
Dominic

[jesper107 113]

9 hours ago, dedgren said:

As noted elsewhere, I am not generally a fan of CJ videos.  That said, Jesper, Wow!  What a great ride! It was a good length (relatively brief), it had a concrete purpose- to show the ride- it was interesting, and it moved along.  I have to admit I winced when run over by the first truck that overtook me on the road and when the vegetation intruded into the bikeway.  You should lose the "grass" sprites- there's a mod for that [linkie], but other than that and the need to come to a conclusion other than running full-speed headfirst into a boulder I have no complaints whatsoever only one more gripe.  You only looked both ways at a dangerous road crossing once- you just flew across a couple of others.  My life was passing in front of my eyes...

Great teaser pics of Snibben's coastline.  I bet we'll still see more of it- too good to just move on from all at once.

Great update!

 

David

I think you forgot the link to the grass mod. If you're talking about the "remove clutter" one, I've actually used it but decided I actually like the fidelity that is brought with grass enabled more than the completely bare ground.

Sorry about the cars overtaking, but for a small showcase I'm not recording it again and praying for no traffic ! You'll just have to live with it!

And regarding the "looking both ways". That was just a neat trick to make you guys stare in awe at Kinnarpsverket! But I agree, for next time I'll have more consideration for the virtual lives of the viewer. 

Thanks for taking your time to provide constructive critique and thanks for the praise. It means a lot coming from you!

Jesper

28 minutes ago, Simulanten said:

Ja men hejsan!

Beautiful - catching that skärgård spirit of the Swedish east coast. I love the detail and the summer flair.

About the vegetation I always wonder what to use for beech and oak and similar. The vanilla trees are looking ok from the sky but from street level they are weird (and in the case of oaks too small) and the shroomblaze trees are way to stingy green and saturated. For the conifers I use the ones from Djelle on the workshop - I like them the most. And what to do about the giant Scandinavian vanilla pine trees? Is there alternative?

Keep it up!
Dominic

The vanilla giant Pine is terrible and I hate it with passion! I try to look for dark tress, and so far this is what takes up most of the forested areas: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=441898053&searchtext=pine

I do vary with a brighter conifer, but I can't seem to remember which one it is. Maybe Shrommblaze's here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=441898053&searchtext=pine

As for the leafy trees I use the two vanilla variants of "tree with leaves". I love those! I believe they´re a good substitute for the beech tree.

But I agree, we desperately need a good Scots pine!

Thanks for the comment and the praise!

Jesper

[Simulanten 681]

For the conifers I like a mix of those too: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=418579675&searchtext=conifer 

A good variety of sizes and the higher ones go for denser and older forests.

The "tree with leaves" is just really small and for my taste they look a bit "mushroomy" from street level. But nothing compared to the mutant giant pine in the vanilla game. Hey, the devs are Fins so what's that?

One question about landscaping (you seem to be an expert): How do you make little lakes and ponds? The game's water simulation works well for ocean and large rivers but is definitely too clumsy for smaller waterways and lakes.. Ideas?

Dominic

[jesper107 113]

I'm certainly no expert, and I tried making a small stream but to no avail.

I guess what you can do is dig using the mods that enable terraforming, and then level the terrain until you have a very small depression either formed as a pond or as a stream. 

After that, make it smaller using TPBs rocks:

https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=535991576

They interact with water so you can probably tight it up a bit. After that just paint the bottom of the water with some rock texture!

I'll try it out in the coming days and see what the result is.

 

Jesper

[Turjan 1,048]

On 12/31/2015 at 1:36 PM, Simulanten said:

One question about landscaping (you seem to be an expert): How do you make little lakes and ponds? The game's water simulation works well for ocean and large rivers but is definitely too clumsy for smaller waterways and lakes.. Ideas?

This is not so. It's just not well documented. Default strength of water sources is "1",  whatever that means. You can adjust that down until "0.01", or just 1%.  Additionally, by adjusting the maximal pump height of the water source with a pressed mouse button and movement of the mouse, you can confine the water to very small ponds. I have lots of small ponds on my map. If you define the max height below the edges of your pond, the water will stay inside and not flow out. This works with all water source sizes, so even a full strength water source at power "1" will not flow over if you keep the max height below the edge of the pond. It will then look as if it boils.

Here I show one small pond with a ridiculously large water source on my current map, which nevertheless cannot run over the edges, as you can see from the second picture (open spoiler):

Spoiler

 

 

@jesper107: I wanted to put spoiler tags around this, as this is not my CJ, but I don't see them at the moment. I'm either blind, or they are gone. Sorry for that. Just tell me if you want me to move it out (I'll probably just delete it if the spoiler tags don't come back). Spoiler tags are back.

[Mr_Maison 2,426]

Wow, Very beautiful CJ! It's good to see another gardener planting rocks and veggies with thought and care. The amount of work shows. As for the video, are you aware of the first person camera mod? You can click on a bike rider or anything moving and go for a ride from the subject's perspective. Only downside I guess is the lack of control on where they're going.

 

Also thanks for the laughs....Great Job!

Dennis

[jesper107 113]

6 hours ago, Turjan said:

@jesper107: I wanted to put spoiler tags around this, as this is not my CJ, but I don't see them at the moment. I'm either blind, or they are gone. Sorry for that. Just tell me if you want me to move it out (I'll probably just delete it if the spoiler tags don't come back).

No worries at all! The more knowledge the better, in my book! Will the "pressed mouse button" also work for the ingame terraform tool? Many thanks for this knowledge!

Jesper

3 hours ago, Mr_Maison said:

Wow, Very beautiful CJ! It's good to see another gardener planting rocks and veggies with thought and care. The amount of work shows. As for the video, are you aware of the first person camera mod? You can click on a bike rider or anything moving and go for a ride from the subject's perspective. Only downside I guess is the lack of control on where they're going.

 

Also thanks for the laughs....Great Job!

Dennis

I had both mods for 1st person installed, but they conflicted. So I chose the one with zoom to ground view since it felt a bit more integrated in my gameplay. Will try the other one though!

Great that you had a laugh at the text - exactly my intention! And thank you!

Jesper

[Turjan 1,048]

On 1/1/2016 at 3:53 AM, jesper107 said:

No worries at all! The more knowledge the better, in my book! Will the "pressed mouse button" also work for the ingame terraform tool? Many thanks for this knowledge!

Thanks. It took me a while to notice this. And yes, it will work with the ingame terraform tool. You can let the water fall from the sky (I think people who produce tides do it that way) or sink the source completely into the ground, which is good for a source on mountain slopes. You can also adjust existing sources.

[jesper107 113]

Update 3: The Kinnarp harbour

So, I decided to quit plopping trees and rocks for a while and started working on the big-ish town of Kinnarp. I realistic terms it's going to have about 50.000 inhabitants. I'm not all that happy with how it's going (I feel more comfortable with trees and rocks), but maybe you guys can give me a few pointers?

I also realized that you can take high resolution screenshots with Shift+F12. The more you know!

Anyway - here's the update in all its Shift+F12 glory:

 

Far in the distance, south of the God forsaken island of Snibben, a bright light can be seen.

 

Moving closer reveals a quite small but potent harbour.

 

It's not Rotterdam or Singapore. It isn't even Gothenburg or S:t Petersburg. But it is Kinnarp harbour, and it supplies the whole region of Kommun with resources. It's one of those harbors that actually sleeps at night.

 

During the day it awakens from its slumber... or rather, it remains rather groggy throughout the day, but there is at least one or two ships arriving!

 

To the left in this picture the train connections and cargo sections of the harbor can be seen. Opposite it, divided with a bay for smaller ships and fishing vessels, lies the fluid handling and the passenger section.

 

From the highest cistern you have this view. Only authorized personal and select pyromaniacs get to go here. In the background to the left, just above the frontmost of the big red cranes, Snibben lighthouse can be seen.

 

That's all for today! I'm fairly poor at designing cultural places, touched by the hand of man - so please feel free to give me advice on how to improve it!

Thanks for reading!

Jesper

 

[Themistokles 134]

I feel like hooome! You really are creating Sweden here, aren't you? And that snibbe is just flawless, I tell you... It feels like plucked from an east coast map or something. Are you maybe using Forsmark or Oskarshamn as a model? But the real questions: what is Åkesson doing here and why are you biking on the wrong side of the cykelbana?!

[jesper107 113]

How did you know it was Jimmie living in that shed?! 

Yep it's the Forsmark model.

Well, I'm not saying I'm creating Sweden, because then fellow swedes will get angry when I mess up (which I do all the time). I'm doing something north and in Europe. 

Thank you for the praise!

[dedgren 830]

Great pics, Jesper!

My state's largest city, Anchorage, has a port that is probably smaller than Kinnarp's.  The two things I think any far Northern port is going to have a lot of are oil and gas storage tanks (I am presuming they are what you are referring to when you say "cistern") and indoor warehousing/break bulk buildings.  I think you've included both of these facilities nicely.

We are a bit  above 61.5 degrees north latitude here.  How far north do you live?

 

David

[jesper107 113]

I'm at 55, in Malmö, Sweden. However this region is probably around 60 north. Keep in mind that Scandinavia is fairly hot in comparison with other latitudes, due to the Gulf stream.

Hmm Anchorage has a smaller port.... oh well! Let's imagine there's a giant city just outside my map borders then !

And thanks for the praise - always means a lot coming from you, Mr Decade!

[Turjan 1,048]

Nice update again. I'm still not decided how the harbor in my city will look like, and yours looks like a good solution. I don't think the harbor is too big - even a small town like Lysekil has a bigger one. I guess what's off is the container infrastructure, which is usually bundled in a few big harbors per country. That doesn't really matter though. Containers is what the game deals with in case of cargo, and your explanation is as good as any.

By the way, the West Coast of the US is also much warmer than its East Coast, mostly due to the Alaska Current. Of course, that one doesn't flow as far north as the Gulf Stream, because the land is in its way.

[dedgren 830]

So, y'all are from the south...

The Anchorage metro area has about 2/3 of the state's population living in it.  About 500,000 people.  Our port has a lot of barge traffic in and out of it in the ice-free months.

A couple of amusing new 3RR pics here [linkie].

Thanks for the kind words.  I'm just standing, to borrow a phrase, on the shoulders of giants.

 

David

[Vals Loeder 27]

Lots of great pictures. They really have a beautiful Scandinavian atmosphere about them. Well done!

[Trooth 22]

I like the work you have done with the props.  I am looking forward to more.